Crowd Psychology
by SkyWorthy
Summary: The One Above All must have been taking a break when I was pulled between worlds. I wasn't one to give up the chance at a fresh start! A mutant OC character from the Marvel Universe falls face-first into a world of superpowers. [Ability - Duplication: able to make temporary autonomous copies of herself]
1. Chapter 1 - Welcome to Musustafu

_ In which our heroine, Emmy, finds herself in a strange and wonderful new world. Not that she knows that. _

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_"Quoted italics" for speech that the point of view character doesn't understand. _

* * *

_POV - Shota Aizawa | Eraserhead _

Shota Aizawa, Hero Name: Eraserhead, didn't know how he still got surprised anymore. With four out of every five people in the world possessing a quirk, something like this really should have happened eventually. Just about anything could happen after all.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder if he'd done something to deserve this.

His nightly patrol had started like usual: scouting for illegal activity and answering calls for help. There had only been a couple of cases tonight that had specifically needed him to erase the quirk of a villain in order to keep the other heroes safe enough to take them down. That really should have been his first clue that something more was waiting. His nights never ended easy.

So, of course, a new problem appeared at the end of the night when he was tired and his eyes were already dry from the earlier use of his quirk.

Eraserhead had been called in by Present Mic due to a particularly troublesome villain. Apparently the guy called himself "Easy Come, Easy Go" or somesuch.

While his chosen villain name was pretty pathetic, his quirk was far more problematic. From what was understood, his quirk allowed him to pull things from other dimensions in exchange for swapping something from our world. Or at least that's what the villain claimed, (Aizawa didn't know why villains monologued, he just used it against them when he could).

Of course, in reality, all they ever really saw was that bullets and arrows and the like would disappear into nowhere, while he seemed to be able to pull out more weapons as they ran out of ammo.

Heroes couldn't dare approach him, just in case they get pushed into some random universe. There were few things a hero should be more wary of than a villain with a quirk you didn't understand the limits of.

That's where Eraserhead came in. With his quirk, Erasure, the villain could safely get taken out.

Or at least that was the plan.

"Fools! Why won't you just leave me alone!" Screaming, the villain lobbed another grenade (how many of those did he have?!) he'd pulled out from behind him, forcing Eraserhead to duck behind a wall. That didn't save him from the resulting flash, however, which left him blinded and forced him to blink, cancelling out his quirk.

"Mic! He caught me in that! Distract him for a minute till I can cancel his quirk again!" Aizawa yelled, hearing affirmation from Present Mic in response.

"We have you surrounded, Villain! Give yourself up, Yeaaaaaaah?!" Hizashi, better known by his hero moniker 'Present Mic', called, sending sound waves hurtling.

To no avail, unfortunately, as the sound waves disappeared like everything else that got close. The side of good was starting to get desperate to take this guy out.

Aizawa heard one of the police officers call for the dogs to be released, though this only seemed to panic the villain.

"FINE, YOU WANNA TAKE THIS TO THE NEXT LEVEL?! I CAN DO THAT!" The villain screamed as they watched him pull out a syringe that he then jammed into his leg, depressing the plunger.

"AH HA, AH HAH HA HAAAH AAAAAAAA!"

Well, shit. He had some kind of quirk enhancing drug.

Time seemed to slow down, as it does when an author needs to explain a lot of action that happens in just a few moments.

Aizawa gained back enough of his vision to see the police dogs hurtle past him towards where the villain was.

Before he could activate his quirk on the villain again though, the sound of ripping was heard. His eyes tracked the dogs as they sprinted by, then watched them seemingly wink out of existence from even further out than anything else had thus far.

First, the dogs, one after another, then a car wheel. A barrel. A motorcycle. More and more disintegrating as the villain's range expanded, his maniacal laughter increasing in volume all the while. The eye of a vortex where even the pavement of the parking lot seemed to be getting eaten away by his quirk.

"COME, IDIOTS, SEE WHERE YOUR HEROISM GETS YOU! I'LL REPLACE YOU WITH AN ARMY OF MY OWN THAT CAN'T HAVE THEIR QUIRKS STOPPED". His proclamation was accompanied by a flash of lightning and the clap of thunder.

All was still, movement and sound seeming to have ceased until Aizawa noticed that the villain was no longer alone. Someone (a woman?) clad in a red and gold hoodie was now standing beside him. Not just empty words then.

_'All right, that's enough _!' Aizawa thought, slamming his erasure ability full force into the villain, who seemed to stagger, before turning to the new arrival.

"You're it!? Where's my army!? NO MATTER, TAKE THEM OUT, MINION!"

The woman, no wait, the teenaged girl? Just looked around in confusion, before her eyes settled on the source of the screaming. Aizawa saw her eyes narrow before she shifted into a combat stance.

"What are you doing! Stop Them!" Aizawa yelled at the police, starting to sprint, capture scarf starting to flare as he got ready to tangle them.

Everyone seemed to come out of whatever stupor they had been in and burst into action. Or at least they would have if they hadn't watched the girl sucker punch the idiot who had seemingly summoned her.

Even Aizawa slowed to a stop in shock. Her fist had seemed to shift into several as they made it to the villain, knocking the guy out completely and making him eat dirt. Actual dirt, since whatever the guy had done to summon the girl had ripped chunks away from the concrete and revealing the earth beneath.

The kid yelled some things at his prone form and then kicked him, before seeming to come back to herself.

On noticing all the police, as well as Hizashi and Aizawa, she freezes, before slowly, carefully, moving her hands up in surrender.

She couldn't have been more than 15, surely. Faded and dirty jeans, with a red and gold hoodie, a blue circle in the centre of the chest.

Waving the police off, Aizawa and Hizashi approached her slowly, attempting to look non-threatening. She might have taken out the villain, but she could still mean them harm. Aizawa turned on his quirk for good measure. It wouldn't hurt to erase her quirk, whatever it was.

When the girl tried speaking to them though, Aizawa could only shake his head. While he didn't understand English, he could recognize it well enough.

Present Mic, though, startled incredulously at her.

"She said 'it's not what it looks like'" Hizashi cocked his head. "I don't suppose you speak Japanese? "

At her blank look, Hizashi muttered, "Well guess not".

In a louder voice, he asked "_ I don't suppose you'll come quietly? We'll even take care of your partner, you don't seem to be on good terms with him _"

She seemed to stiffen slightly before a wary look entered her eye.

"_ Partner _?" She seemed confused. Glancing at Hizashi, then Shouta, the knocked out villain and then back to Hizashi. " _Do you mean this guy? I've never met him before. It's just common sense and self-defence to knock out strange men who scream at you. Even if you don't know how you got here. _"

Hizashi shared a glance with Aizawa after relaying what she'd said.

"Would you step away from him then? We need to take him into custody. It would be good for you to come with us." Hizashi slowly began making his way towards the villain, Aizawa following a second after.

That seemed to be too much for her though, as her muscles tensed again, raised hands pulling her hood over her face. Aizawa's instincts were screaming at him, the girl was about to do something and he sent his capture scarf at her. Absently, Aizawa noticed that her hood seemed to double as the top half of a mask, eye slits allowing her to see and giving her a strangely robotic look with only her mouth visible.

Before anyone could stop her, she seemed to burst. One girl suddenly became two, then those two seemed to split and become four. Again and again, until there must have been two dozen of her, all running in different directions. Aizawa tried to use his quirk on several, but to his surprise, nothing happened, no matter which one he seemed to switch to. Were they illusions?

"Stop her! Nonlethal capture only! She was brought here by a villain and is obviously scared!" Hizashi yelled at the police.

Aizawa was still trying to figure out how she was able to use her quirk. He'd disregarded what the villain had said about bringing an army whose quirks couldn't be stopped, but what if it was true?

Then again, if it was just illusions, it would make sense if he'd never actually tagged her and had really just been staring at the empty air where the illusion was occupied.

Everyone seemed stunned, before starting to burst into activity, some moving to capture the knocked-out villain, others chasing after her, Hizashi included. Not a bad plan, considering that Aizawa suspected he was the only one here that spoke English.

Shouta was about to follow suit before catching a glimpse out of the corner of his eye. One of the copies of the girl had seemingly been missed in the confusion and had snuck behind another crate, watching everyone run around.

A few copies of the girl seemed to dissolve into the air when caught, lending credence to the idea of the illusion.

Very sneaky, Aizawa thought. While Hizashi and the police moved off in pursuit, taking the unconscious villain with them, he moved off in an opposite direction to the hidden girl, waiting till he was out of sight before taking to the rooftops and making his way back to her.

More of her illusions seemed to be getting away and as he silently dropped down beside the silent spectator, he trained his quirk on her again, activating it once again. Leaning in closely, he whispered.

"What are we looking at?". Aizawa took great pleasure in how the girl shrieked. It had been a long night and he was going to take what he could get.

When she attempted to flee though, she found her arm gripped tightly, with his scarf already wrapping itself around her.

She struggled, kicking and pulling at the scarf trying to get free. He sympathized with her. For all she knew, she'd been captured or kidnapped, pulled from who knows where and was surrounded by unfamiliar faces.

He wished he had kept Hizashi back. Eraserhead didn't know a lot of English, but he did know enough to hopefully calm her down. Getting her attention, He pointed at himself and said "_ hero _".

She seemed to still at that. Wary but curious.

"_ Hero _?" the girl asked. He just nodded. Very slowly, he started lowering his scarf, letting her stand, though not letting her go.

He pointed back at her and said "_ Hero _?", while tilting his head, hoping she understood the question.

Though at the way her face scrunched up, it didn't seem a good sign. and waved her hand from side to side. Was that meant to be a maybe? For clarification, he asked "_ Villain _?" But she just scowled at him.

With seemingly contemptuous ease, her form seemed to expand and stretch again, forcing his capture scarf apart. Wait, What? His quirk was definitely still on, was this not the real her again? Didn't she have an illusion quirk? Did that extend to sound and... He actually felt his scarf being forced to shift. His quirk was definitely still on.

Aizawa sighed, it was useless to think about what abilities she might have. He wasn't exactly trying to keep her trapped, he just didn't want her from running off again. He let the scarf pull away from her gently.

She eyed him with suspicion until he raised both hands in a surrendering gesture.

When she tried to talk to him again though, he didn't understand any of the words that she used.

When he said "_ I don't speak English. _" very specifically in English, she adopted a blank expression. Then incredulously seeming to shout what he assumed was " _What do you mean you don't speak English?! _" Enough hand gestures accompanied it that he actually laughed.

"I only know the first sentence and then this one explaining it," Shouta continued, a smirk appearing on his face at the growing exasperation of the young woman. Ah, it was definitely worth learning those two sentences just for this.

She went off in a tirade, lots of hand waving and finger-pointing. At himself, the direction the cops went off in, where the villain she'd knocked out had been and then the sky. Her voice built louder and louder until she finished it off with a yell of frustration, crouching down and using a stick to scratch at the ground.

"You done?"

Without even looking at him, She just made a rude gesture at him, likely understanding his tone more than anything else.

Slowly, he sat down where he was, not attempting to get any closer. She seemed to stiffen, before continuing to scratch at the ground.

"Eraserhead."

She glanced up, pausing in her scratching "_ Hmm? _"

He pointed to himself and said his hero name again, then gestured towards her slowly.

Understanding lit in her eyes, hesitating only slightly before getting to her feet and dusting herself off.

"_ Emmy, _" the girl said, holding out her hand to shake.

Well, it was a start. He squeezed her hand gently. She definitely felt real. At least until she started dissolving like he'd seen other copies of the girl, 'Emmy', do.

Her hand already dissolved out of his grip, she gave a jaunty wave, before spreading her arms wide, smiling face to the sky as she closed her eyes.

"Wait!" Aizawa was already moving his hand towards her but he was too late. He went straight through the misty form, forcing the form, whatever it was, to drift apart quickly, no trace of the girl left.

Aizawa just stood there, staring at the spot. Eventually, hearing footsteps come up beside him.

"She got you too, huh?" Hizashi murmured, uncharacteristically quiet. It had definitely been a weird night, even by hero standards.

"Looks like she left a note for you, though."

Glancing over at where the girl had been scratching at the ground he realized it had been more "What does it say?"

"'_ Thanks for keeping me company while I escaped. Much love, Emmy xx', _" Hizashi read. Waving goodbye, he left, yawning all the while. They would catch up the next day to go over what had happened.

Aizawa let out another sigh before beginning his own walk home. He had a date with a juice pack and a sleeping bag. Thinking of the note from the girl again though, he allowed himself a small smile.

"Cheeky shit."

* * *

_POV - Emmy_

I smiled as I felt the final piece of me return, welcoming the memories as they slotted into place. That exhausted-looking 'hero' with the scarf, (Eraserhead?) would no doubt be less than amused after spending all that time with one of my duplicates.

I'll admit, I panicked a bit when I saw them coming closer. While it seemed like they meant me no harm, it felt like it could have been a distraction. I had used misdirection enough that I was wary against letting it be used against me. The cockatoo with the show host voice didn't seem too bad, but the scarf guy had seemed pretty scary and I had just knocked someone out. For all I knew, I was going to get taken into custody myself and I just didn't want to deal with that. Not even for a night.

So I split, creating enough duplicates of myself that there were more of me than there were police, hopefully giving me a big enough distraction to escape. Escaping the car park was easy enough, but cockatoo was surprisingly in shape and I only managed to lose him by ducking down around a corner and out of sight. With no one looking, I'd been able to split off another duplicate and send them running off down the street while I fled down some steps into what I hoped was the subway system.

The things I could do had confused many people the first few times that I had met them. Most thought of it as a basic illusion, great for making people look one way, while I took advantage of their distraction. Those that managed to figure out that my duplicated actually had substance were though, then just assumed they were mindless copies that I had to direct. A misunderstanding I sometimes encouraged.

In reality, my power was duplication. I could split off a piece of myself and give it form, making a temporary version of myself that could think and act in our best interests. My favourite part about it though was that when they ran out of steam, I would feel them return to me, memories becoming one with my own.

It wasn't a perfect 1-1 ratio, but it was generally enough to get an idea of what they had been up to. More like if you traced the same shape on a piece of paper over and over, it would leave a more noticeable indent on the paper underneath. Useful for group study sessions, not so much in fights if you ever had a dozen duplicates running on low power. They would literally pop as soon as they were hit more than softly.

The downside though was that I could only invest so much of myself in each duplicate before running out of 'energy', and each version of me could only last so long depending on how much was invested in them. If they, in turn, decided to invest some of themselves into a brand new duplicate, they would last for an even shorter duration.

It was a power I was very grateful to have. Particularly when it helped me knock out the idiot that had been screaming at me. I was already disoriented, damn it! He was lucky I didn't throw up on him after I clocked him, even if it probably would have been funnier if I had. Oh well.

Now though, I honestly don't know where to go from here. In the heat of the moment, I'd taken it in stride that I'd somehow left Manhattan and ended up in Japan. I knew enough to recognise the sound of the language, but if there were any prominent features in the city, there was no way I'd recognise it.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs to the subway, I made my way further in and vaulted over the payment turnstile. I hadn't paid for a train in years and even if I'd had money that worked here, I wasn't going to start now.

As I walked down the different isles, trying to find a train with no passengers, I kept thinking of the broken parking lot and my escape from the cops. If it hadn't been for the strange hang out time with the scarf hero, I would have almost called the events of the last hour anticlimactic. Almost. Getting ripped from your own city across the world to another where you didn't speak the language was definitely a shock, if nothing else. I had expected someone to find me by this point, even with the distractions I'd sent out. Stark had always managed it, the smug ass, though it was more likely he just never lost track of which version of myself that happened to be 'Emily Prime'. If he'd wanted to catch me he could have. Maybe the surveillance over here in Japan just wasn't as good?

There were few people out at this hour, so finding an empty carriage wasn't too difficult. I hopped inside, just as the doors were shutting and made my way down the aisle until I found a relatively clean seat. I was the only one on this carriage so I felt relatively safe for now.

Letting out a small sigh as I sat down, I let more of the tension drain away from me. Without someone to fight or reason to run, I couldn't avoid thinking about it. How the hell had I got here? I was in a country I didn't speak the language of, an actual illegal immigrant, and on the run from the cops.

I pulled my knees up on the seat, leaning my back against the wall of the carriage and wrapping my arms around my legs.

And now that I'm relatively safe... what do I do now?


	2. Chapter 2 - It's okay to ask for help

_In which our heroine takes a nap, makes a new friend and also kicks a guy in the unmentionables. Just not in that order._

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"_Quoted italics" for speech that the point of view character doesn't understand._

_Italics in angle brackets for speech where the other talker is over the phone._

* * *

_POV - Emmy_

Morning came by, and I didn't exactly feel much better. When you're forced to live on the street for years, there are things you learn very quickly: safe places to sleep, where you can get food if you're desperate, that kind of thing. I sure as hell didn't feel safe enough to sleep on a public train in an unfamiliar country.

The end result was me craving caffeine. I was only an hour or so away from where I'd initially gotten on, and I felt zombified, limbs sluggish, and brain fuzzy. By the way, people were giving me sympathetic looks; it was fairly noticeable.

I'd made my way out of the subway station and out into the streets. I was aimlessly wandering while the morning traffic slowly filled the streets. It took me a while before I started actually paying attention to the people I was walking past. Once I had, though, I immediately did a double-take. Blinking several times and stopping in the path, those around were forced to detour. I rubbed my eyes for good measure, making sure that what I was seeing was real.

Mutants. Everywhere. People with flaming hair or fingers that were stretched a meter long, necks that swiveled 360 degrees and others that looked like they were made out of wood!

I couldn't help it, my jaw dropped, and I gawked openly. So many! And no one was freaking out about it. I let myself split apart, giving her the name Em to help distinguish her easier in my mind.

"They really are all mutants…" I heard Em mumble in awe. "We're both seeing this! Is this some secret society, or has japan just always had this many of us!?"

We shared a look, but I obviously couldn't know any better than her, with both of us only diverging seconds beforehand.

"We're actually normal here!" She whisper-shouted. I noticed a few people smiling at our good humor and couldn't help myself. I let out my own squeal in excitement, and we both started to laugh. Linking arms, we ran down the street, eyes devouring each new person that we passed.

There were just so many amazing people here: wings, horns, some with various animal limbs or heads. There were tons of 'normal' looking people too, of course, but even then, most of them seemed to have something else that marked them as different. Personally, I loved the array of different hair colors. After we lost count of the number of people with pink, purple, or green hair, among others, we had to assume that strange hair colors were just natural here!

Delightedly, we even watched a sky blue summer dress flutter past, presumably with someone invisible wearing it.

I held my hand out to Em, letting her sync back into me.

"_Wow! Cool quirk, lady!"_

Looking behind me, I saw this cute little girl who was clapping at me as she walked was crossing the road with her parents, a tolerant smile on her mother's face.

I winked and gave them a peace sign in return, not understanding a word of whatever they had said. I was loving how something as simple as showing off my powers in public was considered… normal. This place was a paradise for someone like me.

This was the moment, I decided. If I can be myself here, I never want to leave.

A feeling of contentment rising within me, I made my way further into the city, spotting an open park and heading in. The area wasn't too big, maybe 100 sq meters, but it had a few trees and some park benches, as well as a watering fountain. A reasonably good area to rest at, I figured.

Making my way in, I parked up by one of the trees, resting my back against its reassuring weight and letting myself relax. Despite how excited I was, seeing all the people walk by who were each unique in their own way, I was still exhausted. Sleeping during the day in a public place was one of the safer places that I could be. Eyelids starting to droop, I scooted my butt further away from the tree and lay down, resting my arms underneath my head.

Or at least I would have if some idiot hadn't burst into the park screaming. So much for safe.

The guy was tall, at least 6 feet. His black hoodie showed off his lean but muscled arms. The hood prevented me from seeing his eyes, showing only his demented grin. His hands were shaped in the classic finger gun pose. While usually, this might be amusing, depending on the context, it was decidedly less so with what came next.

"MY NAME IS FINGER-GUNS! Not as amazing as some other names, of course, but it gets the _point across_". Ugh. Puns too. Though when no one seemed to react to him beyond mild annoyance, it only served to anger the guy. Given the fact that he was speaking English, I supposed that wasn't too surprising. What the hell was this guy even doing here?

"Bang," he uttered, entirely too many teeth showing as his grin stretched.

I watched as his finger suddenly detached, high speed. The guy actually shot his finger!

When the digit hit the ground near a group of people, it exploded, causing a sharp bang as well as a surprisingly shrill squeak from a beefy male who'd been closest to the shot.

Everyone in the park stopped moving, hands going up in surrender. Scared, but not surprised. Others that had been far enough away scattered.

"Now I want all of you to be sensible and give up ya valuables. Ain't no reason why we can't all get through this alive and friendly like". The guy pulled out a cloth bag and started pointing at people and then looking at the bag while making the money-grabbing gesture, his finger already seeming to regenerate.

Craaaaap. This idiot might actually hurt someone. I raised my own hands, brain whirring as I tried to figure out how to bring him down. There wasn't anyone in police garb nearby, something the guy must have been aware of before trying this whole thing.

An errant thought wondered why it always had to come down to rush tactics with my duplicates. Sadly, that seemed to be my only option right now. I didn't exactly have any gear that would make distance takedown easier. At least if the guy was aiming at them, he wouldn't be aiming at innocents.

I used my already raised hands to pull my hood up, letting the top half of my face be covered so that only my mouth was visible. I was looking out through the robot eyed tinted lenses. Not much of a disguise, but again, I had to work with what I got.

A slight exhalation and I let myself burst, three dozen of identical versions of myself separating and running.

With time being of the essence, I had to focus on speed rather than 'quality.' I didn't have the time to charge any of them beyond the bare minimum needed to sustain themselves. They wouldn't even be glass cannons, maybe paper swords. It would have to be enough.

Three squads of twelve were sent out, each with a specific purpose. First had the job of protecting the innocent people here. In any situation, saving lives will always take priority. My duplicates could be replaced. Not so much for ordinary people.

The next group was set to contain the area, hopefully warding off anyone else so they couldn't accidentally get caught in the cross-fire. With any luck, they might see some police or others who could help.

The final group was the one I would be supporting directly, assisting in taking down the villain himself. With his finger bullets, I couldn't let myself be hit, but with any luck, I could make enough duplicates to overwhelm him.

With their objectives set, I moved too, attempting to hide behind the tree I'd planned to rest against.

The villain was moving too. It was hard not to notice when thirty-six identical looking people showed up out of nowhere, especially when some of them were running at you.

"You little shit!" Another finger bang and the resulting explosion took out five of my attack squad all at once! I immediately set to duplicating more. Feeling their minds return to my own, I winced. I was glad they couldn't fully grasp the pain, but it was discomforting enough to hope that not too many more would hurt.

The finger bullets seemed to explode on contact, rather than have any real penetrative power behind them. Attempting to give me any extra solidity by overcharging them wouldn't help, since if they got hit, they'd just end up too damaged to help anyway.

"Scatter!" I heard one of the attack squad yell, followed by "Right_!_" from the remaining members.

A couple more bangs, this time only taking out one member of the attack squad as they began to spread out. Unfortunately, the one that missed had continued on, almost hitting another civilian before a member of the rescue squad dived in front.

The rest of the rescue Emily's were attempting to rush the innocents away. Hopefully, getting them to take cover behind trees and statues and anything else that they could put in-between themselves and the villain. Gratefully, I noted the next memories that returned included their attempts at telling people to try to hide behind her. Luckily, at least one person seemed to understand English, since the rest followed suit.

The villain was screaming about something, firing off shot after shot, taking down any who got too close, which was, unfortunately, most of them. At this point, I was attempting to churn out 2 duplicates for every one taken down. I absently noted red liquid dribbling out of my nose but tried to ignore it.

When one finally got close enough to hit the guy, he seemed to panic. He was firing off more shots than he was regrowing fingers, and it seemed like he was getting desperate.

Then something weird happened. The guy started laughing. Not the creepy laughter he had before, but full-on, gut bursting laughter as if he'd heard the funniest joke in the world.

The attack squad was stunned for a second, weirded out before attempting to take advantage of the guy who seemed to be having difficulty. He didn't last long after that. First, a kick to the nether regions then punches to the gut, before a final Emily pulled his head to a knee, knocking him out completely.

A cheer went out, duplicates and civilians alike celebrating. When some of the people attempted to thank the different Emily's, they accepted awkwardly before dispersing themselves.

Smiling, I lowered my hood and attempted to take a step out from behind my tree. Before I could, though, a dizzy spell came over me. Ah, might have Smiling, I lowered my hood and attempted to take a step out from behind my tree. Before I could, though, a dizzy spell came over me. Ah, might have overdone it a little. That was probably more than I should have done on no sleep, especially after my getaway the night before. I wished once again that my duplicates didn't all disappear when I passed out. Oh well. At least I'd finally get to sleep on this comfy grass, I noted before darkness claimed me.

Unbeknownst to me, a green-haired kid was excitedly scribbling a new entry in their notebook under the title "_Legion_" as they left the scene.

* * *

I felt myself being shaken gently. Blearily, my eyes tracked their way until they found the source of my current ire, she who would interrupt the sacred sleep. I gave her a glare for good measure. Didn't she realize how tired I was?

The lady was kinda cute, though. Green hair tumbling down beneath an orange bandana, tight-fitting black singlet tucked into some... clown pants? Her belt even had little smiley face buckles over it. Wide metallic cuffs were circling her glove covered wrists.

"_Hey kid, you okay?" _her eyes looking concerned as she checked me over.

I looked at her blankly, before muttering, "Sorry, I don't speak Japanese." Glancing down, I noted a few red stains on the chest of my hoodie and felt briefly annoyed. Laundry was a pain when you live on the streets, but this had been a gift, I'd have to either find some money or a relatively clean stream to wash it in.

"American, huh? How's this then, you doing okay?"

My gaze immediately snapped back to the women, realizing I'd let my brain wander off. "You speak English?" I asked, trying to shake off the exhaustion.

"Enough to get by had fairly decent grades in school." The woman smiled, trying to be reassuring.

I rolled over onto my front, swaying only slightly as I tried to get up.

"Hey, hey… don't move too fast. It looks like you've been bleeding a bit." She said, gesturing at my face and chest. "There's no rush."

"So what's with the get-up?"

"Hero actually, haven't you ever seen a hero's costume!?"

"I mean sure, Iron Man wears a flying suit of armor, and I think Captain America wears a full-body kevlar outfit. I've never seen someone who chose 'clown' as a hero theme, though. It doesn't seem like it would protect you over much from attack."

Before she could respond, my stomach interrupted with a loud three-second rumble. The green-haired woman just laughed before linking her arm with mine and pulling me along.

"Come on, kid. I was about to go get something to eat myself. You look like you haven't had a decent meal in weeks, I'll treat ya." A natural smile on her face. I got the impression that she smiled a lot.

She set a slow pace, which I was grateful for, and we made our way out of the park and onto the sidewalk. My mind still felt hazy. Briefly, it crossed my mind that I was just following along with some stranger. Something I haven't been stupid enough to do in years. But she said she was a hero. It should be safe… right?

"Y'know… My mom told me not to walk away with strangers just because they're attractive. You got a name?"

"Ha! Your mom's a smart lady. You can call me, 'Ms. Joke'. I can even show you my hero license if you need it."

"You have a hero license? That's a thing?" I was surprised. Japan must be really ahead of the curve compared to the States.

Ms. Joke flips a card out of seemingly nowhere, the smiling lady depicted on the front. I couldn't read any of the text, but it looked official enough. It was even that special kinda hard plastic. Fancy.

I supposed it wasn't any worse than 'Dr. Strange', even if that had been the guy's real name.

"I guess that explains the whole smiley clown theme you got going on. I'm Emily."

"So," Ms. Joke kicked a stone out of the pathway as we walked down the street, "What's your quirk?"

"Quirk?" My eyebrows were narrowing in confusion.

"Wrong word? Maybe my English is still rusty. You know! Your superpower, secret ability, the special thing that you can do that no one else can. Like how I can make people laugh!"

I unwillingly burst out in laughter, my eyes widening and hands attempting to cover my mouth, before feeling the urge leave me.

"That was you!? You're the one that helped me take down the idiot in the park! Is that what you meant by making people laugh?" I was stunned. I hadn't ever heard of someone who could make people laugh with their powers. To anyone!? That would be so useful for taking people down. If they were laughing so hard that they couldn't breathe, they would have to stop moving eventually."

"Yup!" Making a small popping noise at the end and smiling, "Hence Ms, Joke! The smile hero, bringing sunshine and laughter to everyone's day. But I'm more curious about you. Come on, kid, I showed you mine, now you show me yours" eyebrows wiggling as she led me further down the street.

I just smiled. "Eh, it's probably easier if I just show you."

I let myself split, pouring half of my remaining energy into the newly forming duplicate of myself.

"Hiya, I'm Emelia! Nice to meet you!" My double held out her hand to shake.

"Illusion?" Ms. Joke asked, her own hand reaching out to touch that of Emelia. "It's solid!"

"_It _has a name and would appreciate it if you were to call her by it." Emelia's eye was slightly twitching.

This happened a lot when I showed people what I could do. I wouldn't want to be referred to as 'it' when I was a walking talking breathing and living person. Why would any of my doubles wish to it, even if they were manifestations of me?

I couldn't help but smile at the interaction, though. Me Joke seemed kind enough.

"Ah! Sorry sorry!" Firmly grasping my double's hand before using it to pull her in for a side hug. Then I was pulled into the other side, Ms. Joke's arms wrapped around both me and Emelia. "Cool quirk, though! You can make a bunch of copies of yourself, and they can all move and think, huh?"

"We prefer not to be called copies. We understand we aren't the first version of ourselves. Still, we'd rather be called duplicates at least, or twins or sisters or whatever. We all think and remember. Copy or clone tends to imply that we are a lesser version of the original. Even if we are, it feels a bit rude, y'know? All our memories tend to return back to her eventually as well, so she understands how we feel."

"Yup," I confirmed. "My best guess is that maybe around 90% of what they experienced comes back to me? Lower just means faint impressions. Largely seems to depend on how ingrained it gets, though. I can't exactly ask what I'm missing after we become one again."

Ms. Joke was looking confused, though. "So wait, you're all the same person?" Eyebrows furrowed as she looked at first me, then back at my twin. "Then why call yourself Emelia?"

I snorted, then Emelia herself snorted at me, causing us both to laugh. She strode towards me before leaning on my shoulder. I pumped a bit more energy into her while we were in contact. "Shall we show her?"

Emelia nodded in return, and we backed up in tandem.

Making sure Ms. Joke was observing, Emelia and I both started to split. The two of us became four, then four became eight, and so on until there were sixteen of us in total.

"You try keeping track of who is who when you all respond to the same name!" Our voices in sync, it was one of my more useless but impressive feats. I loved the feel and sound of harmonizing.

Ms. Joke gaped at us, then a wide grin stole over her face, showing many teeth. "Oh man, if we ever get the chance, we are so pranking a work friend of mine. Aizawa won't laugh, but I will, and that's worth basically the same to me".

Grinning, the group of duplicates started merging back together, forms becoming one until it was just me and Emelia left. I sent her a questioning look, but she just shrugged at me. If she wanted to hang around a bit longer, I wasn't going to stop her.

Wrapping her arms around both Emelia and my shoulders, Ms. Joke got us moving again. "So what takes your fancy, what are ya hungry for?"

Emelia and I traded a glance before she asked, "I don't suppose you got a Maccas around here?"

"Maccas? Oh, like a McRonalds?" Ms. Joke asked, sounding honestly surprised. "Sure, if you're happy for something low grade and greasy. We could always go to a cafe if you're wanting something."

Emelia shrugged, "maybe, but fast food is quick and easy."

"Plus, we wouldn't want to cost you too much. We appreciate you feeding us at all, so we don't wanna cost you too much." I continued, idly watching a pedestrian on the other side of the road who seemed to have been carved from stone.

"Thanks again for that, by the way!" Emelia chimed in.

"Us, eh?" Ms. Joke grinned. "Who said I would be feeding both of you, brats." No real heat behind her words, letting us know that she didn't actually mind. As we turned the corner, we saw a somewhat familiar M sign. Well, at least the branding seemed similar here.

"Hey, hey! It takes a lot out of us to split like that, y'know? And we haven't had anything to eat in like a day".

Ms. Joke let her arms fall down from our shoulders as we opened the door to the fast-food chain. "Sure sure, that's fine. It makes sense that having multiple bodies would mean that you burn more fuel. Only two of you, though yeah?" She said with a wink. "Public service only pays so much."

"Thanks!"

With that, we made our way inside, already smelling the delicious greasy food.

* * *

Once seated, Emelia and I fell on our own meals with the enthusiasm of a box of starving, crazed weasels. Assuming that I'd gone straight from Manhattan to here, it would have been almost two days since I'd last eaten.

"You don't spend a lot of time with other people, do you?" Mouth partially full, I glanced up. Ms. Joke had her brows quirked, an amused glint in her eyes.

Looking over at my twin, I saw Emelia's face covered in sauce, mouth full, and a few chips sticking out between her lips. I almost did a spit take, though I managed to finish my mouthful before pointing at her and laughing. I'd be surprised if I didn't have some on myself as well.

Swallowing her own mouthful, we both looked back at in sync, closed our eyes and tilted our heads, before saying: "Nope!".

She gave a wry chuckle, which was probably more than that little performance deserved. It was nice, though. Comfortable. Spending time with people. When you are literally your own crowd, you get used to being 'on your own,' so to speak. Lonely wouldn't be the right word, but it felt close enough.

Grabbing a stray paper napkin, I managed to wipe away some of the sauce on Emelia's face, her weak protests ignored, before moving to clean my own.

"I have to say, you're a lot more agreeable than you'd been made out to be." Ms. Joke said offhandedly.

Both of us stiffened. Very slowly, we shifted. The moment tense and prepared ourselves to bolt. I regretted taking the window seat now. Hopefully, Emelia would be able to distract her long enough before she could catch me with that forced laughing ability of hers.

Ms. Joke made no sudden movements, though. In fact, she did nothing but take a sip of her soda as she looked out the window by our booth. "I don't plan on taking you in or anything, so you can stop worrying. I only know some of what happened last night. But from what little I'd been told in passing, some villain pulled you from somewhere, ultimately stranding you here. Does that seem about right?"

I only nodded. Ms. Joke probably knew better than me. I only knew I'd somehow shown up here, not knowing how. I felt some of my tension fading, but only slightly.

"Now I'm not one to judge, but I would guess that you need help. You're in an unfamiliar place. You don't speak the language. You sound American, but it seems like you're shocked every time you see someone using their quirk. Eighty percent of the entire world has superpowers, it really shouldn't come as such a shock."

I felt my jaw drop, likely an identical expression on Emelia's face. Assuming that she wasn't lying, this couldn't be the same planet I was from. There was no possible way that I'd somehow missed the idea that only a fifth of the entire world didn't have powers in some way. My mind boggled at the implications of that. If almost everyone had superpowers and civilization as a whole hadn't crumbled yet, then this place was way different to the society that I was used to.

"If you need help, all you have to do is ask, kid. You won't be in trouble. Especially when it's a villains fault that you're here at all."

Ms. Joke let that sentence hang in the air.

I stayed silent, letting my eyes wander as I mulled that over. I watched as people walked by, some with prominent animal features, others with fire or shadows licking at their heels. This place was wondrous in its own way. When everyone had powers, it was a lot harder to discriminate just on the fact they existed. I could just be my many selves here, and no one would bat an eye.

Feeling a tap on my shoulder, I looked over at my identical twin. Slowly she shifted her hand in front of me. Ms. Joke was seeming to ignore us, willing to wait for our answer. I grasped Emelia's outstretched hand, and She slowly dissolved, the process taking longer in an attempt to bring her thoughts back to me as clearly as possible.

_It's not like we can't just leave from wherever we end up if things go wrong. It's okay to ask for help. Sometimes, anyway._

Absently, I noted in her memories that she had taken one of my chicken nuggets when I wasn't paying attention. Rude. I grabbed my last chicken nugget off the tray and popped it into my mouth, thinking through what to say.

I let my gaze shift back to Ms. Joke, her smile gentle and encouraging, and I let out a small sigh before returning a wry grin.

"My name is Emily Waters, though I prefer Emmy and... If four our of 5 people in the world are mutants, then I don't think I'm from this world."

I took a deep breath. Even just saying that out loud seemed daunting. Everyone I knew was so far gone that, for all I knew, my friends might not be in the same universe as me. If this place was still called Earth, then it couldn't be the same reality… right? My head started to pulse as a headache began to make itself known.

"The last thing I remember before appearing in that car park last night was feeling like I was falling apart, turning to dust. Not like my usual feeling when one of my duplicates burst. I actually felt and saw my skin flaking away as I was falling apart."

I shuddered. I'd purposely not been thinking about it since I got here, assuming it to be some weird dream or nightmare. With the revelation that I may not be on the same planet, I had to move forward under the assumption that it might be real. "It hadn't just been me either. I'd been hanging out at Central Park. A bunch of people around me seemed to be turning to dust too. It sounds crazy, but then, appearing here out of the blue seems crazy to me too. Stuff like that just doesn't happen."

Ms. Joke was quiet, waiting to make sure I was finished. She reached out a hand to cover mine. I put my other hand over hers, seeking comfort, my eyes prickling and ducking my head. I wasn't used to feeling vulnerable around people I didn't know, but it had been a long, long day, and I really had no clue what to do. Did I try to find a way back? Was there anything or anyone to go back to? What if there were none there, only empty buildings to show civilization had existed at all?

"Help me…" I said softly.

I felt a hand on my chin, tilting my face up to look at her, a soft smile gracing her lips.

"It's nice to meet you, Emily. My name is Emi Fukukado. Ms. Joke is my 'Hero' name. I promise I'll help you, however I can. We'll take this one step at a time, okay?"

I just nodded.

"As far as last night is concerned, you were protecting yourself from a known villain and didn't use your quirk on any innocents. Only to get away from what you believed was a dangerous situation. Not unwarranted really, all things considered, and completely legal".

I could feel the knot of tension deep within me slowly unwind.

"Now, finish that up, and we'll see what we can do to help you."

I'd worried about taking up precious time of hers that should have been spent patrolling, but she waved off my concerns, saying that helping me was part of her job.

_While she insisted that I try to refer to her Emi or Fukukado when she was off the clock, I had to admit that I couldn't pronounce Fukukado correctly. I also felt like calling her Emi was out due to it being way too close to all the names myself and my duplicates used_.

When Ms. Joke caught my eyelids drooping, she suggested heading back to her apartment. The idea of crashing on her couch for a nap was particularly more appealing to me than sleeping outside. Before I could respond, a yawn escaped me. She just laughed before pulling me to my feet.

I wasn't exactly going to argue when I was already running low. Honestly, I'd been surprised that I'd had the energy to show off my duplication 'quirk' to the hero earlier. After not being able to sleep on the train, or have a nap in the park, I was about ready to fall asleep standing at this rate.

* * *

"Hey, hope you don't mind using the couch for now. I'll clear out the spare room later so we can put a proper futon down for you" keys jingling after unlocking the door.

It was a lovely apartment, the entrance opening into a combined lounge/kitchen area, with stairs leading off presumably to bedrooms and bathrooms. The place even smelled nice, I noted some essence diffusers on the dining table.

A deep sigh of contentment escaped me as I fell back-first onto the couch. "Are you kidding? This beauty is amazing…" It was one of those segmented couches where you could push different pieces together to fit a room better. I could turn this thing into a queen-sized bed, it was so large! Snuggling deeper, I whispered lovingly into the cushion beside me while tracing small circles into the fabric. "I love you couch, thank you for never betraying me."

"No getting sexy with my couch~" Ms. Joke called from up the stairs. Choosing to ignore her, I just continued to whisper sweet nothings into the pillow. My body was slowly realizing that here was safe, nothing dangerous around except for the hero who I'd already decided to trust.

Eventually, I felt a blanket being draped over me. I didn't remember closing my eyes. Ms. Joke's warm eyes greeted me.

"Hey, sleepyhead. I need to go sort some things out if you're sticking around, okay? Feel free to help yourself to the food while I'm out. I've also left a key on the counter in case you feel like you need to stretch your legs."

She was showing a lot of trust towards someone she didn't know. My heart warmed, and I felt my eyes misting over slightly. Ms. Joke lay a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"You're not a prisoner here, sweetheart. I'll give you as much freedom as you need to feel comfortable and safe. We'll figure out this thing together, yeah?"

She made her way up, grabbing a few things before heading to the door.

"Why" I called.

"Hmm?" Her hand still on the door handle, she glanced back at me.

"Why are you helping me? You don't know me or where I'm from. Why are you helping a stranger so personally, even bringing me into your own apartment."

"Because you looked like you needed help" She smiled. For someone named Ms. Joke, she did seem to have a good understanding of tact, since now was the least likely I was wanting to hear jokes.

"I'd rather try to help someone who needed it and get burned than not help someone and regret it. I'm a hero, ya know? If I know there's something I can do to help, then I am duty, honor, and morally bound to do so. Though it also helps that you're cute." She finished with a wink.

"Now rest up. I'll bring some dinner back later. Sleep well!"

And with that, she was gone, leaving me to wonder if she had just tried to flirt with me.

I rolled over, and sleep claimed me.

* * *

_POV - Shota Aizawa | Eraserhead_

Aizawa didn't ask for much. Some eye-drops for when he had to use his quirk too much. Time to cuddle his cats. Most of all, though, he wanted to spend a minimum of 8 hours each day asleep. He'd already had a reasonably long night, made longer by the idiot villain using Trigger to juice himself up and pull that girl from wherever she'd come from.

So when his cell phone started ringing at the ungodly hour of 3 pm, Aizawa believed he could be understandably miffed.

"Hrnnggh," Aizawa grumbled articulately when he managed to get the damn thing open by his ear.

_Hey, cutie, just wondering when you're going to be picking me up for our date._

Fukukado.

"We are not dating."

_We could be~_ Aizawa would have sworn he could hear her smug grin through the phone.

"We are not dating, Fukukado." Aizawa let his eyes shut, fitting the phone under his head for minimal effort.

_Yeah, yeah, you'll cave eventually. Anyway, I found your girl._

"What girl?" Letting out a tired breath.

_The one from last night. What with the illusions and stuff. Turns out, they aren't even illusions! She makes physical, living, and breathing duplicates, though they're apparently temporary._

"Where?!" Aizawa sat bolt upright on the couch, yellow sleeping bag pooling down his form. "How'd you even find out about her?"

_Hizashi told me._

Of course, he did, damn gossip. "… Where'd you find the kid?"

_She was just wandering around Musustafu. She's actually very nice. We went and got burgers together. Oh, and she took down a villain who was going to shoot kids in one of the parks._

Aizawa wasn't terribly surprised, with how she knocked down the villain who had brought her to the car park last night. He did feel somewhat impressed, though. It was one thing to knock out someone screaming at you when you're in an unfamiliar location. It's another thing entirely though to willingly jump into danger for the sake of others. She'd have to be stopped though. Being a vigilante was a serious crime, even if most kids who got caught were let off with just a slap on the wrist.

_Anyway, get this. This kid's from America, but not OUR America._

"What do you mean, not our America."

_As in, she comes from an America where such a tiny percentage have powers that they don't even make up 1% of the entire population of the world. She had no idea what quirks were. Best guess is that she's from another reality? Where she comes from, they refer to almost everyone that has power as a 'mutant,' but only if they have the specific DNA sequence. Apparently, you don't have to have the genes to get superpowers, though. It's a whole mess over there, apparently. Still quite a bit of racism. Species-ism? Whatever. Anyway, Crazy stuff, right? Shota? You there?_

"Emi… Are you having me on?" Aizawa let himself lay back down on his couch. He was always too tired for Emi's jokes, but right now, he was extraordinarily too tired.

_What? No! She's sleeping on my couch right now. I can put her on the phone if you want, though she only speaks English. That's actually part of why I called. I need your testimony to help get me custody of her, and then we can try to send her to UA for school. She's about the right age to start anyway._

"I knew I wasn't that lucky." Grumbling, Aizawa slid a hand over his face, "Why not try and get her to attend Ketsubutsu? I thought you didn't like UA".

_Blech. Well, while I don't like how full of themselves UA can be, her attending UA might actually help her case. You told me she'd been summoned somehow by that villain, right? She worries that people will assume she's a villain too._

He heard her take a breath before letting out an annoyed sigh.

_Depending on who ends up being her caseworker, they could also assume she's lying. Quirks have weird enough effects as it is, like 'who knows what that villain's quirk could have done to her brain?' ya know? At least by pitching me as a hero taking custody of an unknown potential-risk entity, we can say we'll be keeping an eye on her. If they worry about her not being supervised during my work hours, they can't complain about an entire staff of _UA heroes _covering the rest of her day_.

Aizawa couldn't really argue with that. "Fine, fine, swing by UA with her tomorrow." That would give him enough time to sleep-prepare. "Nedzu would probably get his knickers in a twist if he found out we didn't let him meet someone from another dimension anyway. "

_Thanks, sweetheart! You're a gem~_ _Click. _

Sigh.


	3. Chapter 3 - Future Prospects

_POV - Emmy_

The next day came far sooner than I'd expected. I'd barely woken up enough for Ms. Joke to get some takeaway food into me before making me shower before sleeping again. She even gave me some night clothes to wear so that she could wash and dry the clothes I'd arrived in, overnight.

She also let me know that she'd booked an appointment with some people who now knew of my situation. Hopefully, they'd be able to help. That wouldn't come till later in the day, though, so when she dragged me out of the realm of sleep to a quick breakfast before heading out, I was a little bit miffed.

"So, what are we doing out here?" I'd left a duplicate behind in the apartment to help clean up the leftover dishes and maybe the rest of the flat, but Ms. Joke wouldn't let me stay back as well. The duplicate had only been allowed to stay under the condition that she didn't leave the apartment.

"Well I still need to do my patrol, I gotta get paid, y'know? Leave your hood down, though. If you jump into any villain fights, you will actually get in trouble now that you're more aware of our laws." Her tone was lighthearted, even when her eyes were continually scanning around her.

"Yes, yes, but then why am I out here with you?" I whined. "I could be sleeping on that delightful couch right now." It really was a comfortable couch. I actually felt ten years younger. Which was great, because being homeless felt like it had aged me around ten years so I figured it evened out.

"Because you're an unknown entity, possibly from a different universe or reality. You've also been seen by the law to have violent tendencies. If I'm not seen to be supervising you 100% of the time, and something bad happens that's linked to you in any way, you might get labeled a vigilante, if not an outright villain."

She gave me a wry smile before going back to scanning our surroundings.

"At that point, it will be out of my hands, and I'll be forced to stay away from you in case I _'let you get away'_ when trying to apprehend you."

I ducked my head, cheeks reddening slightly.

"I'm not blaming you or trying to be mean, sweetheart," she softly spoke, placing a tender hand on my shoulder, "but if we are going to help you, then we just gotta be careful, yeah?"

Thankfully, 's patrol had been relatively quiet, only interrupted when she had assisted police in stopping a nearby robbery. She had made them laugh so hard they fell over and couldn't stop themselves from being arrested but that wasn't even the most exciting part. Her puns turned out to be just as bad as her jokes: "Ooh, a centipede. Get a hundred of those, and I'd have a dollarpede!"

Good thing she had a quirk that _forced _people to laugh her dumb puns. No comment on whether or not she did that to me.

The rest of the time, we'd spent talking about the world I had found myself in. I'd avoided talking too much of where I'd come from, only having given Ms. Joke the basics in our short time together. Ms. Joke didn't seem to mind. Chances were, I'd have to tell her and whoever else eventually. Just… Not right then.

This world, though, was fascinating. The time-period, in particular, really surprised me. As far as I knew, I'd come from the 21st century, with the last date I remember being in 2018. This world, however, was almost to the 23rd century already!

It confused me a bit that their technology wasn't much further along, but for all we knew, our worlds had very different time scales. While it might be the year 2185 here, that could just be because some guy decided to count from a couple-hundred years later than my world.

Ms. Joke did also note that technology did also slow down a bit with the advent of quirks, something that confused me when she also mentioned that the support industry for heroes was huge. So many of the items she described sounded like they would work great if tailored for public use, especially for those people with disabilities or movement impairment.

"Hey, you ever think about trying to become a hero like me?" Ms. Joke startled me out of my thoughts.

"A hero? What, run around in some weird outfit like you?" I teased.

Not that I was really opposed to the idea. My friends from back home had spent more time trying to keep me out of trouble, it was refreshing to have someone ask me to get into more of it. Stark, mother hen that he was, would probably have had a fit if he knew I was planning to put myself in danger regularly again.

"Pfft, I look awesome, don't deny it! Besides, you'd do great as both a front line hero or in support!" She appeared to get more and more excited as she worked herself up. "Your quirk is great! They don't normally let people take the national hero exam until they come of age. Still, if we send you to a hero school, you could probably get your license earlier."

"School?" I let my nose wrinkle in disgust. What kind of kid would _want_ to go to school?

"I'm not exactly the bookish type, . Attempting to put me in a school and expect me to perform well may be asking too much."

"Hey, hey! No more 'Ms. Joke', at least in my off duty hours. We're friends now, right?"

"Fine. _Fukukado_."

She pouted before continuing, "Good enough, for now, I guess. Well, the way I see it, if you're staying here in Japan, you're going to have to do some learning anyway. The language, if nothing else. I won't always be around to translate for you, y'know? Then there are things like getting a job, which again would likely need you to be able to speak the language. I'm happy to put you up at my place for a bit. We might be able to get the Hero Commission to help pay for some fees, thanks to your unconventional way of arriving here. Still, any extra spending money will have to be earned by you personally."

"I can provide for myself!" I insisted. And I wasn't lying. I'd lived on the streets for years by now. Excluding the handful of times that I'd been able to stay with friends, there had been few options available. Though it had been more frequent before this mess and getting ripped away to another world.

"I know you can, sweetheart." In an attempt to soothe me, she reached a hand over to ruffle my hair.

"I would just prefer if you didn't have to fend for yourself. You might not like hearing it, but you're still underage. You shouldn't need to live on the street. I'm a hero, y'know? Stuff like kids being forced to beg or steal or sleep out in the cold doesn't sit right with me."

"Besides, if you do get to share memories with your duplication quirk, learning should be a breeze for you! I would have given a lot to cram days worth of revision into an hour. Maybe then I wouldn't have struggled so much with calculus!" She laughed.

I just sighed, "But… school?" It'd been years since I'd attended classes regularly.

"School can be fun too! You might even make some friends your own age. Plus, with a flashy quirk like yours, you'd probably become pretty popular as well once you go pro! At least try it. For me? It's the holidays at the moment, but I could try to get you enrolled where I work."

"Assuming the school lets me, they might call it a conflict of interest or something if you end up in one of my classes. Failing that, we can always try to send you to UA. I'm not a fan of the elitism there, but it'd be worth it if you can mess with Eraserhead". She looked at me, eyebrows waving up and down in goofy fashion.

I felt a few giggles pass through me (probably not as a result of Ms. Joke using her quirk), before aiming a weak glare at her. "Just before, you said that going to school would be the faster way to get a hero license. What's the 'slower way'?"

"There are a few ways," she mentioned, while offhandedly pulling me out of the way of a stranger. Oops. I probably should have been looking at where I was going. "As I said before, there's the national hero exam, which you wouldn't be able to do for a few years. Even if age _wasn't _an issue, I'm not sure if you'd be able to pass without some formal hero training. They're pretty strict and really put you through your paces based on dozens of possible scenarios."

Well, that one is out then.

"Interning at a hero agency for a few years is the common one, assuming you could even find one willing to take you on. Usually involves doing grunt work for the most part. Once they know what you're capable of, they allow you to help with bigger and bigger things before deciding you're ready and can sponsor you. Another option that likely won't work for you since they'd want some identification. That's assuming they would even take you on. They usually just take interns straight out of the hero schools." An apologetic look crossed her face. "We don't know what your legal status as an alien would even be here since you'll likely have no records."

I let out a small sigh. Briefly, I wondered how I'd gone from being convinced to go to classes to learn the local language, to being convinced to go down the path of a hero. Ms. Joke was smooth, I'd give her that.

I was quiet for a few blocks, paying little attention to my surroundings as she led me towards the destination of our appointment.

"You doing okay, kiddo?" Ms. Joke was looking at me, concerned.

"Yeah, Miss Fukukado, I'm doing okay. Just a bit overwhelmed is all." I tried to raise a smile, but I'm not sure how convincing it was.

"I'm not surprised, really. It'd be a lot for anyone to take in. Also, call me Emi!" Ms. Joke demanded, and I appreciated her changing the subject.

"I told you!" I protested, playing along. "It's too close to my own name!"

"Well, at least give me a nickname or something!" she said, pouting. "We're going to be friends! That means familiarity, right? Especially if you're going to be living with me from now on."

She had a point though, that just brought my mind back to the problem I was thinking about.

"Speaking of… are you sure these people are really going to be fine with me living here with you? Are _you_ really going to be okay with me living with you? Not that I'm not grateful, but I hardly think you woke up yesterday intending to get a flatmate in the form of some teenaged girl. I'm just some kid you only just met…" My voice was getting quieter, tapering off entirely by the end.

Warm arms encircled me as I was rocked gently. My chest felt tight as I was holding back tears. I hated feeling weak in front of others, but for the second time in two days, here I was. Crying again. Brought low once again by simple human contact and kindness.

Her fingers threaded through my hair as she hummed softly. Eventually, she spoke. "I'm helping you because I want to help, Emily. I don't know for sure if they will let you stay with me forever, assuming that's even what you want, but I'm fairly confident. I told them the truth."

She gave me a small smile.

"I told them that I gained your trust and if they're worried about you being dangerous, better to be living with a hero who can keep an eye on you, eh?"

The corners of my lips tugged upwards, and I dried my eyes on the arm of my, now thankfully clean, hoodie.

"Plus, if you go down the hero route, that will make them feel even better. Let _me _worry about the home situation for now. No point planning for the worst yet when it might not be needed, right?"

I couldn't help but ask, "But what if I do something that makes you regret taking me in?"

This had been bothering me. People don't just trust blindly.

"I hope you won't, but I'm not going to stop trying to help you just because you _might_ decide to betray my trust. You don't seem the type, though." Keeping one arm wrapped around me, she spun me to face back towards our destination.

"Come on, we're here anyway. Time for us to see what we can do to help you settle into this new world, eh?"

She pulled me gently with her toward a massive compound, the letters '**UA**' proudly resting atop the gateway.

And waiting at the front doors was a familiar tired-looking man in a scarf.

* * *

_POV - Shota Aizawa | Eraserhead_

It hadn't taken long for Aizawa to organize this meeting between Nedzu and the problem child. When the rat heard about the possibility of interacting with a cross-dimensional traveler, he'd been ecstatic. He was practically jumping at the chance to bring this kid into the fold. Especially when he learned that the kid's quirk was self-duplication that let her create perfect autonomous doubles AND also keep the memories that they accumulated.

Personally, Aizawa was betting that Nedzu was just wanting a little more chaos to add to his calculations. It was one of the few reasons why he figured Nedzu went along with the suggestion of leaving the girl in Emi Fukukado's care. The alternative of just moving her into UA's student housing would have been less appealing.

"Looking good, cutie, you come here often?"

"I hate you," Aizawa replied, without missing a beat.

Aaaand there they were now. Slightly late, now that Aizawa checked the time, but Nedzu probably planned for that anyway.

"No, you don't!" Smiling, the Joke Hero pounced towards Aizawa, missing and falling to the ground as he sidestepped out of the way. He tagged her with his erasure quirk, just to make sure she wouldn't be able to get him that way either.

Undeterred, Emi Fukukado picked herself up off the ground, shrugging as she called over her shoulder. _"Sweetie, don't be shy, come here and say hi to Shota Aizawa!"_

The girl in question made her way forward, and Aizawa got a much better look at her.

_"Eraser… head," _the girl said, nodding at him_. _Well, she remembers his hero name, at least.

"Yo."

She just waved back, a neutral expression on her face.

The young girl looked notably better than she had a couple days prior. She was clean, for one. Her hair was no longer greasy, and her clothes far less stained. Now that it wasn't dark and she wasn't wearing the hood, he could make out her facial features. Pale blue eyes, almost gray, were set in a lightly tanned face, which in turn was framed by close-cropped, obviously self-cut, brunette hair. It looked like she'd just pulled her hair back into a ponytail and then chopped it in one fell swoop.

While it was hard to tell through the hoodie, now that he got a closer look at her, she seemed too… tiny. Even accounting for the fact that she must barely be 5"2' tall. Far skinnier than a few days lacking food before Ms. Joke found her could account for. Concern flickered through him briefly before fading away. She would be fine. She had some people looking after her now, and hopefully, she would take Nedzu's deal.

"Come on then," he called to Fukukado, letting them through the gate before heading towards the front doors at a sedated pace.

"You're a little late," he noted, "Nedzu and the others will already be waiting in his office."

"Yeah, well, we got caught up. What others?"

"Nedzu liked your idea of being able to keep watch of her by enrolling her here. He wanted to make sure to get other opinions of her." Fukukado just hummed noncommittally in response.

Glancing back at the girl, he noted with some small surprise that there were now two of them. Same red hoodies with the strange design on them and everything. One of the girls seemed lost in thought, while the other waved at him brightly. How odd that they could look so similar but act differently.

Well, if she felt safer by having an extra copy with her, it didn't bother him. Much of the teaching body of the school was going to be in the office, she wouldn't be able to do too much damage that couldn't be fixed.

As he led them through UA, letting Emi Fukukado jump from one topic to another, he wondered if the girl, _Emily_, would take Nedzu's deal. She seemed like a sensible kid. If you could call someone whose first instinct was to run towards villains, rather than away from them sensible. Good hero instincts, assuming they could be trained, at least. Probably a result of not needing to worry about dying if her clones took all the damage.

Likely, if she made it through the exams, she'd get put into his class. He always got the problem children. He'd have to stress the importance of collateral damage. However, from what he'd heard of the fight she'd had with Finger-Guns, she'd put most of her effort into getting the civilians to safety. He was still quietly impressed by that.

Noting the quiet conversation between the two versions of the girl behind them, he got their attention. "We're here," gesturing towards Nedzu's office where the rat and other members of staff would already be waiting. He opened the door for the girls before motioning for them to enter. It barely crossed his mind that they didn't share a common language.

One of the girls glanced curiously at him as they made their way past and into Nedzu's office. The other copy just ignored him. Such perplexing differences between two entities that should otherwise be identical.

While he was distracted, Fukukado pinched his butt, before winking at him and rushing in behind the girls.

With an annoyed huff, he followed, closing the door behind him.

* * *

_POV - Emmy Duplicate | Emberly_

UA was a lot bigger than I'd expected for a college. We had followed Aizawa through the massive hallways, noting that some of the doors here were absolutely huge! It wasn't so much the fact that they had doors big enough to account for people who may need it, so much as it was that they existed at all.

Once again, this society was proving to be far more accommodating to people who had different physical needs compared to most standard humans.

Ms. Joke seemed very amused by my reactions, but I couldn't help but gawk, and I knew Emmy was the same. I was reasonably sure I had seen a city district out one of the windows. Inside the UA compound itself. Just what kind of school was this?!

When we arrived at our destination, I let Emmy lead me through the door opened by Eraserhead. It was a beautiful office. Very tastefully furnished, an excellent desk, full bookshelves, and some very comfortable looking couches. One of which seemed to be occupied by a small creature in a suit drinking tea. Wait…_what?_

"You may be wondering, am I a mouse? A Dog? A Bear?" the white-furred… thing asked. In flawless, if lightly accented English.

I couldn't help myself. Ignoring Emmy's warning glares, I spoke up.

"Before I make an absolute ass of myself, because I really don't want to be rude, do you accept head scritches?" The words were falling out of my mouth in a rush. I felt my fingers wiggling in anticipation. Even, _or maybe especially_, with the scar over his eye, he looked _adorable. _Especially in his little suit and booties!

Emmy smacked me on the arm, and I finally caught her glaring at me. I rubbed my sore arm, though she hadn't hit me anywhere near hard enough to pop me with how much energy she had invested in me, it still hurt.

Knowing I was a duplicate gave me a certain amount of freedom that the original could never have. However, Emmy certainly enjoyed living vicariously through us. As such, I was going to take every chance I got.

"You're a person, at least as defined as an entity that has their own morals, reasoning, and ability to make your own life choices. Beyond that, I'm not sure it really matters what you are," Emmy noted, responding to his question.

I was kinda surprised. That was a lot deeper than I'd expected. Maybe Emmy was trying to impress him?

"Ohohoho! I like it. That's an answer I haven't heard before, and to answer your question, young lady! You may not," taking a sip of his tea while motioning us to sit. "Though I can understand your desire, my diet of naturally occurring keratin does keep my fur luxuriously smooth. Though it wouldn't do the same for you humans, I'm afraid," he said, seeming genuinely apologetic.

"Of course! Apologies, sir." Heat flushed through my cheeks, and I knew that rose would be tinting the tips of my ears.

"Not at all, not at all! Now let us introduce you to the others in the room", gesturing broadly around the office to reveal several other people occupying chairs or wall space. I'd been so wrapped up in how cute the Lil' white talking animal was, I hadn't even noticed weren't not alone. Oops.

"Of course, you've already met _Aizawa_ on your way here, as well as before that." Eraserhead was nodding in acknowledgment.

"You may also remember Hizashi Yamada from the event of your… arrival." He gestured towards a man in a leather jacket, his blond hair tied up in a loose ponytail.

'Oh right,' I thought, snapping my fingers. "The cockatoo hero with the speakers in his costume and the weird mustache!"

Emmy smacked me again, harder this time, while the man in question burst out with a "Hey!". Must have said that out loud, double oops! The guy was without what I later understood to be his hero costume. It wasn't my fault; he looked so different without his fancy duds!

Nedzu just continued on, ignoring the commotion. "And this gentleman here goes by Ectoplasm and is someone I'm sure you'll be very interested in talking to later on." The lipless smile the spectacled guy gave was a bit unnerving, but really no weirder really than much else I'd seen both before and after coming to this world. I sent him a friendly wave in return.

"And I am Nedzu! The Principal of UA!" The fuzzy friend finished brightly. "Not everyone here speaks English, of course, but I'll do my best to be translating for people as needed."

Nedzu began shuffling through the papers before him, taking a moment to find what he needed before continuing.

"Ms. Joke has been able to explain some of your... situations, and quite surprisingly, cross-dimensional travel has never happened to our world before!" The principal seemed ecstatic from the concept of something utterly new happening.

I watched as Emmy sent a questioning glance at Ms. Joke.

"You slept a while, silly, and I had to wait for your clothes to finish washing before I could put them in the dryer."

Oh.

Getting our attention again, Nedzu continued. "Now, since you've arrived here as the result of a villain's quirk, I had to bring it to the attention of the Hero Public Safety Commission. I've spoken to my contacts there, and we have good news! They're willing to leave you to your own devices for the next few years so long as you have heroes to keep an eye on you!"

"Told ya." A smirk was lining Ms. Jokes' face as she folded her arms in front of her.

"Quite! Now naturally, this has to come with some caveats. As principal of this prestigious hero academy, I get a certain amount of leeway in how I can go about helping you. After talking it through with some of our staff here, this is what we would like to offer you: We will require you to attend UA for some time."

"As the school year has already started, we won't put you in this year's class, but we will try to get you up to speed on the education you have missed out on. In the short term, this will include things like learning Japanese, recent world history, math, and whatever other classes that it turns out that you are behind in. All of this to help acclimatize you to living here in Japan."

I was kinda relieved that we wouldn't have to jump feet first straight into classes with other people right away, but I couldn't help but ask. "What if we _don't_ want to do all this? I don't mean to be rude, but is school really the only option? Plus, all of this sounds like a lot of money…"

"I imagine it has to come from somewhere," Emmy added, agreeing with me.

"Quite right! To answer your first question, I rather imagine you will enjoy school here far more than your previous schools. The hero course tends to bring a certain element of excitement that you won't find in your usual classroom. Which brings us to the money side of things. You're right, it does come from somewhere. We would cover all the fees, with the expectation that you eventually pay it all back. No interest charged, of course."

Stifling my interruption before it left my mouth, Nedzu pushed forward. "We won't leave you in the lurch with a debt you can't repay! Assuming you can pass the practical entry exam, of course, we will be wanting to place you in the Hero course." I watched Emmy's eyes narrow slightly at that, then relax, likely coming to the same conclusion as me.

There would be no point putting us through this hero course if we couldn't show we'd be worth the investment in the first place. Fair was fair, after all. They were basically offering a scholarship.

"Of course, if you choose not to, we can always help get you back to America. It won't be the same as what you're used to, but at least it will be rather more familiar than here where you don't speak the common language", Nedzu added.

"This feels a bit like blackmail. 'Do things this way, or else we'll leave you worse off than you are now,' ya know?" Emmy whispered to me. Evidently, not quietly enough.

"Look at it this way, little listener!" The cockatoo spoke up. "Within 24 hours of you arriving here, you've helped take down two villains. Even if it was just a case of right place at the right or wrong time, that's still impressive for someone your age!"

"Basically, we think you're a good fit to be a hero and want to help you succeed in that goal, sweetheart."

Ectoplasm said nothing, though he seemed to be following the conversation well enough, nodding in agreement.

Eraserhead was… drinking from a juice pack? I knew he didn't speak English fluently. I was guessing he'd been kept up with the conversation via the cockatoo, who apparently knew how to be quiet when he wanted since I didn't remember the guy speaking.

"So basically" I said, "It's either do this school thing, committing myself more or less to 24 hour surveillance and showing that I can be trusted by putting myself through your hero course. OR basically getting left on my own in a world, I am not familiar with."

"Rather succinctly put!" Nedzu praised, though I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic. "That seems to cover it, yes. Basically, if you want the help of the government, then the government requires you to go through this to prove yourself. You get a fresh start and a chance at a career, and our society gets a capable hero out of it who has the potential to do a lot of good. Well worth the investment, in my opinion!"

"Well, when you put it like that…" I trailed off. Room AND board were a lot better than I'd had in the past, even without the scholarship. Assuming these heroes were really on the level and could be trusted, having to go to school for a few years wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen to me. I could look at it as a job that I would occasionally have to use my brain for.

Decision made, I glanced at Emmy. She nodded back at me.

"Great!" Ms. Joke declared, "I'll figure out what we need to do to get you settled in then. We'll likely need to send you somewhere to brush up on your Japanese, so you can at least read and write. I can help a little, but it might be best for you to take some classes while I'm at work."

"We'll also need to register you so that you aren't here illegally," Nedzu added. "Don't worry! With your unique abilities, we will have all the paperwork done in no time."

Then I realized the massive mountain of paper stacked in the corner of the room was what he was referring to as 'the paperwork.' And he wanted to get through all of it right now.

"Now, if you'll just make an orderly line of thirty or so of your sisters, we can get started."

Emmy let out a sigh, though I smiled at Nedzu's acknowledgement of the duplicates as individuals.

Then we began to split. 'Sooner begun, the sooner done,' after all.

* * *

_POV - Emmy_

Hours had gone by, reading and signing documents, detailing what I could and could not do as a resident of this universe. It was actually kinda startling how much paperwork Nedzu had already had there ready, considering his words of us being the first interdimensional traveler.

I'd made the mistake of helping sign things myself, which meant that by the time I noticed my hand was cramping, it was too late.

By the end of it, though, everything was finalized. I wasn't going to be sent into foster care or left out on my own again. I would even get to stay with for a while longer.

It all depended on me passing this 'hero entrance exam' they kept mentioning, but so long as I managed that and kept my grades up, I would have a 'free' ride for the next few years. I would actually come out with real job prospects too!

Things finally seemed like they were looking up. When I fell asleep that night on Ms. Joke's sofa, I had a smile that felt permanently stuck on my face.


End file.
